Control module activation of vehicles in a key-off state

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus are disclosed for control module activation of vehicles in a key-off state. An example system includes a vehicle at a location in a key-off state that includes a battery, a communication module, and an infotainment unit to activate and present media responsive to the communication module receiving an activation signal. The example system also includes a remote processor to determine a charge level of the battery, identify a parking duration for the location, and send the activation signal responsive to the charge level being less than a threshold associated with the parking duration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. ______ DocketNo. 83791941 (NGE File No. 026780.8673), filed on Apr. 19, 2017, andU.S. application Ser. No. ______, Docket No. 83791944 (NGE File No.026780.8674), filed on Apr. 19, 2017, which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to control modules and, morespecifically, to control module activation of vehicles in a key-offstate.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles typically include a plurality of electronic control units.Generally, each of the electronic control units monitor and controlvarious subsystems throughout the vehicle. For instance, some vehiclesinclude electronic control units to monitor and control an engine, abattery, door functions, human-machine interfaces, suspension,cruise-control, telematics, brakes, seats, etc. The electronic controlunits may include hardware, firmware, circuits, input devices, and/oroutput devices to monitor and control the corresponding subsystem.

SUMMARY

The appended claims define this application. The present disclosuresummarizes aspects of the embodiments and should not be used to limitthe claims. Other implementations are contemplated in accordance withthe techniques described herein, as will be apparent to one havingordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings anddetailed description, and these implementations are intended to bewithin the scope of this application.

Example embodiments are shown for control module activation of vehiclesin a key-off state. An example disclosed system includes a vehicle at alocation in a key-off state that includes a battery, a communicationmodule, and an infotainment unit to activate and present mediaresponsive to the communication module receiving an activation signal.The example disclosed system also includes a remote processor todetermine a charge level of the battery, identify a parking duration forthe location, and send the activation signal responsive to the chargelevel being greater than a threshold associated with the parkingduration.

An example disclosed method for activating vehicle control modulesincludes determining, via a battery sensor, a charge level of a batteryof a vehicle at location in a key-off state and identifying, via aprocessor, a parking duration for the location. The example disclosedmethod also includes activating an infotainment unit responsive to thecharge level being greater than a threshold associated with the parkingduration and presenting media via the infotainment unit.

An example disclosed tangible computer readable medium includesinstructions which, when executed, cause a machine to determine, via abattery sensor, a charge level of a battery of a vehicle at location ina key-off state and identify, via a processor, a parking duration forthe location. The instructions which, when executed, also cause themachine to activate an infotainment unit responsive to the charge levelbeing greater than a threshold associated with the parking duration andpresent media via the infotainment unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made toembodiments shown in the following drawings. The components in thedrawings are not necessarily to scale and related elements may beomitted, or in some instances proportions may have been exaggerated, soas to emphasize and clearly illustrate the novel features describedherein. In addition, system components can be variously arranged, asknown in the art. Further, in the drawings, like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example vehicle in a key-off-state in accordancewith the teachings disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of electronic components of the vehicle ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for setting control module(s) of the vehicle ofFIG. 1 in an active state in accordance with the teachings herein.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for setting the control module(s) of FIG. 3 in theactive state to determine driving directions from an identified event

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for setting the control module(s) of FIG. 3 in theactive state to detect and collect data related to damage caused to thevehicle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for setting the control module(s) of FIG. 3 in theactive state based upon an expected duration during which the vehicle ofFIG. 1 is parked.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

While the invention may be embodied in various forms, there are shown inthe drawings, and will hereinafter be described, some exemplary andnon-limiting embodiments, with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention andis not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodimentsillustrated.

Vehicles oftentimes include a plurality of electronic control units.Generally, each of the electronic control units monitor and controlvarious subsystems throughout the vehicle. For instance, some vehiclesinclude electronic control units to monitor and control an engine, abattery, door functions, human-machine interfaces, suspension,cruise-control, telematics, brakes, seats, etc. The electronic controlunits may include hardware, firmware, circuits, input devices, and/oroutput devices to monitor and control the corresponding subsystem.Typically, the electronic control units require energy to control thecorresponding subsystem of the vehicle. For example, the door controlunit consumes energy to perform electronic functions of the door. Ininstances in which an engine of the vehicle is turned off, electroniccontrol units may draw energy from a battery (e.g., a starter battery)of the vehicle. In such instances, the battery may become discharged ordrained if too many electronic control units are drawing energy from thebattery and/or the electronic control units draw energy from the batteryfor an extended period of time.

Example systems, apparatus, methods, and computer readable mediadisclosed herein prioritize electronic control units of a vehicle toenable one or more of the electronic control units to operate while thevehicle is in a key-off state without causing a battery of the vehicleto become discharged or drained.

Some example vehicles disclosed herein include a communication modulethat is to receive an activation signal when the vehicle is in a sleepmode and parked at a location associated with an event (e.g., a workshift, a sporting event, a showing at a movie theater, etc.). Atelematic control unit of the example vehicle is to activate upon thecommunication module receiving the activation signal from a remoteprocessor. For example, the remote processor determines the location ofthe vehicle, identify the event and an event time of the event basedupon the location, and sends an activation signal to vehicle based uponthe end time. The communication module receives the activation signalfrom the remote processor, and the telematic control unit activates uponthe communication module receiving the activation signal to determineand present a route from the location (e.g., a preferred route to atarget destination) prior to and/or as a driver approaches the vehicle.

Some example vehicles disclosed herein include a communication modulethat is to receive an activation signal when the vehicle is in a key-offstate and damage has been caused to the vehicle. The vehicle of suchexamples includes one or more sensors that collect damage detection datafor a predetermined amount of time while the vehicle is in the key-offstate. The communication module is to send the damage detection data toa remote processor, and the remote processor is to detect whether damagehas been caused to the vehicle based upon the damage detection data.Upon detecting that damage has been caused to the vehicle, the remoteprocessor sends the activation signal to the communication module tocause a camera module of the vehicle to activate. The camera moduleincludes a camera that collects damage identification data to identify atype, a location on the vehicle, a severity, and/or a source of thedamage caused to the vehicle.

Some example vehicles disclosed herein include a communication modulethat is to receive an activation signal when the vehicle is in a key-offstate. The activation signal is to be received from a remote processorthat determines a charge level of a battery of the vehicle and identifya parking duration for the vehicle at the location. If the charge levelis greater than a threshold associated with the parking duration, theremote processor sends the activation signal to the communication moduleto activate an electronic control unit of the vehicle. For example, theremote processor sends the activation signal to activate an infotainmentunit to present media while the vehicle remains parked at a fuelingstation, a post-office, and/or at any location associated with a shortparking duration.

As used herein, a “sleep mode” refers to a setting of a vehicle in whichenergy consumption of electronic control units of the vehicle arereduced to a minimal operating level to reduce energy consumption whilethe vehicle is not being operated. As used herein, an “active mode”refers to a setting of a vehicle in electronic control units are fullyfunctional. As used herein, a “charge level” and a “state-of-charge” ofa battery refer to a measurement of an amount of energy stored within abattery.

Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrates an example vehicle 100 inaccordance with the teachings disclosed herein. The vehicle 100 may be astandard gasoline powered vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, an electricvehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, and/or any other mobility implement typeof vehicle. The vehicle 100 includes parts related to mobility, such asa powertrain with an engine, a transmission, a suspension, a driveshaft,and/or wheels, etc. The vehicle 100 may be non-autonomous,semi-autonomous (e.g., some routine motive functions controlled by thevehicle 100), or autonomous (e.g., motive functions are controlled bythe vehicle 100 without direct driver input). The vehicle 100 of theillustrated example includes an engine 102, a battery 104, an ignitionswitch 106, a communication module 108 (e.g., a first communicationmodule), a global positioning server (GPS) receiver 110, and anothercommunication module 112 (e.g., a second communication module).

The engine 102 includes an internal combustion engine, an electricmotor, and/or any other power source that propels movement of thevehicle 100. In some examples, the battery 104 is a starter battery thatprovides energy to an internal combustion engine of the engine 102 toactivate the internal combustion engine. Once activated, power issupplied to the internal combustion engine via an alternator. In someexamples, the battery 104 is electrically connected to an electric motorof the engine 102 and provides electricity to the electric motor toenable the electric motor to propel the vehicle 100. In such examples,the battery 104 may include a single battery cell and/or a battery packthat includes a plurality of battery cells connected together.

The ignition switch 106 is utilized by a driver and/or another user ofthe vehicle 100 to operate the engine 102, the battery 104, and/orelectronic accessories of the vehicle 100. For example, the ignitionswitch 106 includes an on-position corresponding to an on-state of thevehicle 100 during which the engine 102 and the electronic accessoriesare activated, an accessory-position corresponding to an accessory-stateduring which electronic accessories of the vehicle 100 are activatedwithout the engine 102 being activated, and an off-positioncorresponding to a key-off state during which the engine 102 is inactiveand one or more of the electronic components are in a sleep mode and/orinactive.

The communication module 108 includes wired or wireless networkinterfaces to enable communication with external networks. Thecommunication module 108 also includes hardware (e.g., processors,memory, storage, antenna, etc.) and software to control the wired orwireless network interfaces. In the illustrated example, thecommunication module 108 includes one or more communication controllersfor standards-based networks (e.g., Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),Long Term Evolution (LTE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), WiMAX(IEEE 802.16m), Wireless Gigabit (IEEE 802.11ad), etc.). Thecommunication module 108 communicates with an external network (e.g., anetwork 216 of FIG. 2). The external network(s) may be a public network,such as the Internet; a private network, such as an intranet; orcombinations thereof, and may utilize a variety of networking protocolsnow available or later developed including, but not limited to,TCP/IP-based networking protocols.

The GPS receiver 110 of the illustrated example receives a signal from aglobal positioning system (GPS) to determine a location of the vehicle100. For example, the GPS receiver 110 determines longitudinal andlatitudinal coordinates of the vehicle 100, the location of the vehicle100, the location of the vehicle 100 on a map, the location of thevehicle 100 relative to landmarks (e.g., stadiums, restaurants, fuelingstations), etc.

The communication module 112 is a short-range wireless module thatcommunicates with a key fob or a mobile device (e.g., a smart phone)functioning as a phone-as-a-key (PaaK) to unlock door(s) of the vehicle100, remote start the vehicle, activate settings of the vehicle 100,etc. The communication module 112 includes the hardware and firmware toestablish a connection with the key fob and/or the mobile device. Insome examples, the communication module 112 implements the Bluetoothand/or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocols. The Bluetooth and BLEprotocols are set forth in Volume 6 of the Bluetooth Specification 4.0(and subsequent revisions) maintained by the Bluetooth Special InterestGroup.

The vehicle 100 of the illustrated example also includes one or moreproximity sensors 114, one or more cameras 116, a tilt sensor 118, anaccelerometer 120, and a battery sensor 121.

The proximity sensors 114 detect when an object (e.g., another vehicle,a person, etc.) is located near the vehicle 100 and determine aproximity of the detected object to the vehicle 100. The proximitysensors 114 include radar sensor(s), lidar sensor(s), ultrasonicsensor(s) and/or any other type of sensor(s) that are capable ofdetecting an object and determining a proximity to the detected object.A lidar sensor detects and determines a distance to an object vialasers, a radar sensor detects and determines a distance to an objectvia radio waves, and an ultrasonic sensor detects and determines adistance to an object via ultrasound waves. In the illustrated example,one of the proximity sensors 114 is located on each side of the vehicle100 (e.g., a front side, a rear side, a driver side, a passenger side)to facilitate detection of object(s) throughout a surrounding area ofthe vehicle 100. In other examples, the vehicle may include more or lessof the proximity sensors 114 and/or the proximity sensors 114 may belocated at different positions throughout the vehicle 100.

The cameras 116 are positioned on the vehicle 100 to collect image(s)and/or video of the surrounding area of the vehicle 100. The image(s)and/or video are analyzed (e.g., by a camera module 228 and/or a bodycontrol module 230 of FIG. 2) to detect when an object is located nearthe vehicle 100 and determine a proximity of the detected object to thevehicle 100. In the illustrated example, one of the cameras 116 islocated on the front side of the vehicle 100 to facilitate detection ofobject(s) located in front of the vehicle 100, and another one of thecameras 116 is located on the rear side of the vehicle 100 to facilitatedetection of object(s) located behind the vehicle 100. In otherexamples, the vehicle may include more or less of the proximity sensors114 and/or the proximity sensors 114 may be located at differentpositions (e.g., on the driver side, on the passenger side, etc.)throughout the vehicle 100.

The tilt sensor 118 of the illustrated example detects when the vehicle100 is tilted and/or when a portion of the vehicle 100 has been liftedfrom a ground surface. The accelerometer 120 detects an acceleration atwhich the vehicle 100 moves. In some examples, the tilt sensor 118and/or the accelerometer 120 are included in an inertial measurementunit (e.g., an inertial measurement unit 224 of FIG. 2) and/or ananti-lock brake system module. Further, the battery sensor 121 monitorscharacteristics of the battery 104. The battery sensor 121 detectsand/or otherwise determines a current, a voltage, a charge level, and/ora temperature of the battery 104. For example, the battery sensor 121detects that the current of the battery 104 is greater than 0 Amps whenthe battery 104 is being recharged and detects that the current of thebattery 104 is less than 0 Amps when the battery 104 is beingdischarged. In some examples, the battery sensor 121 is attached to alead of the battery 104 to enable the battery sensor 121 to monitor thecharacteristics of the battery 104.

In the illustrated example, the vehicle 100 also includes anothercommunication module 122 (e.g., a third communication module), aninfotainment head unit 124 including a display 126 and one or morespeakers 128, and an HVAC unit 130.

The communication module 122 is a dedicated short-range communication(DSRC) module that includes antenna(s), radio(s) and software tobroadcast messages and to establish connections with module(s) of mobiledevice(s) (e.g., smart phones, smart watches, wearables, tablets, etc.),other vehicle(s) (e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication), andinfrastructure (e.g., vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) communication).Information on how DSRC networks communicate with vehicle hardware andsoftware is available in the U.S. Department of Transportation's CoreJune 2011 System Requirements Specification (SyRS) report (available athttp://www.its.dot.gov/meetings/pdf/CoreSystem_SE_SyRS_RevA%20(2011-06-13).pdf), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety along with all of the documents referenced on pages 11 to 14 ofthe SyRS report. DSRC systems may be installed on vehicles and alongroadsides on infrastructure. DSRC systems incorporating infrastructureinformation is known as a “roadside” system. DSRC may be combined withother technologies, such as Global Position System (GPS), Visual LightCommunications (VLC), Cellular Communications, and short range radar,facilitating the vehicles communicating their position, speed, heading,relative position to other objects and to exchange information withother vehicles or external computer systems. DSRC systems can beintegrated with other systems such as mobile phones. Currently, the DSRCnetwork is identified under the DSRC abbreviation or name. However,other names are sometimes used, usually related to a Connected Vehicleprogram or the like. Most of these systems are either pure DSRC or avariation of the IEEE 802.11 wireless standard. However, besides thepure DSRC system it is also meant to cover dedicated wirelesscommunication systems between cars and roadside infrastructure system,which are integrated with GPS and are based on an IEEE 802.11 protocolfor wireless local area networks (such as, 802.11p, etc.)

The infotainment head unit 124 provides an interface between the vehicle100 and a user. The infotainment head unit 124 includes digital and/oranalog interfaces (e.g., input devices and output devices) to receiveinput from and display information for the user(s). The input devicesinclude, for example, a control knob, an instrument panel, a digitalcamera for image capture and/or visual command recognition, a touchscreen, an audio input device (e.g., cabin microphone), buttons, or atouchpad. The output devices may include instrument cluster outputs(e.g., dials, lighting devices), actuators, a heads-up display, thedisplay 126 (e.g., a center console display such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a flatpanel display, a solid state display, etc.), and/or the speakers 128. Inthe illustrated example, the infotainment head unit 124 includeshardware (e.g., a processor or controller, memory, storage, etc.) andsoftware (e.g., an operating system, etc.) for an infotainment system(such as SYNC® and MyFord Touch® by Ford®, Entune® by Toyota®,IntelliLink® by GMC®, etc.). Additionally, the infotainment head unit124 may display the infotainment system on, for example, the display126.

The HVAC unit 130 of the illustrated example adjusts, maintains, and/orotherwise affects an environment within a cabin of the vehicle 100. TheHVAC unit 130 includes vents, a heater, and/or an air conditioner tocontrol a temperature and/or a moisture level within the cabin of thevehicle 100. For example, settings of the HVAC unit 130 may be adjustedto improve a comfort level of an occupant (e.g., adjusting heat and/orair conditioning) and/or to increase visibility through windows of thevehicle 100 (e.g., defrosting a windshield).

Further, the vehicle 100 of the illustrated example is an electricvehicle and/or a hybrid vehicle that includes a solar panel 132 and anelectric vehicle (EV) receptacle 134 to recharge the battery 104. Inother examples in which the vehicle 100 is a standard gasoline poweredvehicle, the vehicle 100 may include the solar panel 132 to recharge thebattery 104 and/or to provide electrical energy components of thevehicle 100. The solar panel 132 captures solar energy (e.g., viasunlight), transforms the solar energy into electricity, and rechargesthe battery 104 by providing the electricity to the battery 104. The EVreceptacle 134 receives a power plug (e.g., an EV plug) of a chargingstation for recharging the battery 104 by enabling the charging stationto provide electricity to the battery 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of electronic components 200 of the vehicle100. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the electronic components 200 include abattery control module 202, the infotainment head unit 124, the GPSreceiver 110, the communication module 108, sensors 204, control modulesor electronic control units (ECUs) 206, and a vehicle data bus 208.

The battery control module 202 monitors and controls the battery 104 ofthe vehicle 100. For example, the battery control module 202 monitorsthe characteristics (e.g., voltage, current, state-of-charge,temperature, etc.) of the battery 104, calculates other characteristics(e.g., internal impedance, charge delivered and stored, energy deliveredsince last charge, etc.) of the battery 104, communicates with thesensors 204 and/or the ECUs 206, controls discharging and/or rechargingof the battery 104, etc.

The battery control module 202 includes a microcontroller unit,controller or processor 210; memory 212; and a database 214. Forexample, the database 214 stores data collected by one or more of thesensors 204, the GPS receiver 110, the communication module 122, and/orany other device of the vehicle 100. The processor 210 may be anysuitable processing device or set of processing devices such as, but notlimited to, a microprocessor, a microcontroller-based platform, anintegrated circuit, one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),and/or one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Thememory 212 may be volatile memory (e.g., RAM including non-volatile RAM,magnetic RAM, ferroelectric RAM, etc.), non-volatile memory (e.g., diskmemory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, EEPROMs, memristor-based non-volatilesolid-state memory, etc.), unalterable memory (e.g., EPROMs), read-onlymemory, and/or high-capacity storage devices (e.g., hard drives, solidstate drives, etc). In some examples, the memory 212 includes multiplekinds of memory, particularly volatile memory and non-volatile memory.

The memory 212 is computer readable media on which one or more sets ofinstructions, such as the software for operating the methods of thepresent disclosure, can be embedded. The instructions may embody one ormore of the methods or logic as described herein. For example, theinstructions reside completely, or at least partially, within any one ormore of the memory 212, the computer readable medium, and/or within theprocessor 210 during execution of the instructions.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the communication module 108 wirelesslycommunicates with a network 216. For example, the network 216 is apublic network, such as the Internet; a private network, such as anintranet; or combinations thereof, and may utilize a variety ofnetworking protocols now available or later developed including, but notlimited to, TCP/IP-based networking protocols. The network 216 of theillustrated example includes a remote processor 218 (e.g., a server)that collects, stores, analyzes, determines, and/or communicatesinformation related to the battery 104 of the vehicle 100. For example,the remote processor 218 collects a charge level of the battery 104and/or a parked location of the vehicle 100 via the communication module108, stores the last measured charge level of the battery 104, analyzesthe collected data to determine or estimate a current charge level ofthe vehicle 100 in a key-off state, prioritizes activation of the ECUs206, and sends instruction(s) to activate one or more of the ECUs 206while the vehicle 100 is in the key-off state.

The remote processor 218 of the illustrated example includes wired orwireless network interfaces to enable communication with thecommunication module 108 of the vehicle 100. The remote processor 218also includes hardware (e.g., processors, memory, storage, antenna,etc.) and software to control the wired or wireless network interfaces.For example, the remote processor 218 includes one or more communicationcontrollers for standards-based networks (e.g., Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),Long Term Evolution (LTE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), WiMAX(IEEE 802.16m); Near Field Communication (NFC); local area wirelessnetwork (including IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac or others), dedicated shortrange communication (DSRC), and Wireless Gigabit (IEEE 802.11ad), etc.).

The sensors 204 are arranged in and around the vehicle 100 to monitorproperties of the vehicle 100 and/or an environment in which the vehicle100 is located. One or more of the sensors 204 may be mounted to measureproperties around an exterior of the vehicle 100. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the sensors 204 may be mounted inside acabin of the vehicle 100 or in a body of the vehicle 100 (e.g., anengine compartment, wheel wells, etc.) to measure properties in aninterior of the vehicle 100. For example, the sensors 204 includeaccelerometers, odometers, tachometers, pitch and yaw sensors, wheelspeed sensors, microphones, tire pressure sensors, biometric sensorsand/or sensors of any other suitable type. In the illustrated example,the sensors 204 include the proximity sensors 114, the cameras 116, thetilt sensor 118, the accelerometer 120, and the battery sensor 121.

The ECUs 206 monitor and control the subsystems of the vehicle 100. Forexample, the ECUs 206 are discrete sets of electronics that includetheir own circuit(s) (e.g., integrated circuits, microprocessors,memory, storage, etc.) and firmware, sensors, actuators, and/or mountinghardware. The ECUs 206 communicate and exchange information via avehicle data bus (e.g., the vehicle data bus 208). Additionally, theECUs 206 may communicate properties (e.g., status of the ECUs 206,sensor readings, control state, error and diagnostic codes, etc.) toand/or receive requests from each other. For example, the vehicle 100may have seventy or more of the ECUs 206 that are positioned in variouslocations around the vehicle 100 and are communicatively coupled by thevehicle data bus 208.

In the illustrated example, the ECUs 206 include a gateway module 220, atelematic control unit (TCU) 222, the communication module 112, aninertial measurement unit (IMU) 224, a central timing module 226, acamera module 228 that includes one or more of the cameras 116, thecommunication module 122, a body control module 230, and an HVAC module232. For example, the gateway module 220 facilitates communicationbetween different communication protocols of the vehicle 100.Additionally or alternatively, the gateway module 220 facilitatescommunication between the communication module 108 and the network 416,for example, via a cellular data link. The telematic control unit (TCU)222 controls tracking of the location of the vehicle 100. For example,the telematic control unit 222 includes and/or communicates with the GPSreceiver 110 that receives the location of the vehicle 100. The inertialmeasurement unit 224 monitors a longitudinal acceleration, a latitudinalacceleration, a yaw rate, a pitch rate, a roll rate, and/or any othercharacteristic related to a current movement status of the vehicle 100.For example, the inertial measurement unit 224 includes the tilt sensor118 that detects when the vehicle 100 is tilted and/or a portion of thevehicle 100 is lifted and includes the accelerometer 120 that detects anacceleration (e.g., longitudinal, latitudinal) of the vehicle 100.Further, the central timing module 226 includes and/or is incommunication with a clock 234 to determine monitor the time. Thecommunication module 122 (e.g., the DSRC module) wirelessly communicateswith other nearby communication module(s). For example, thecommunication module 122 collects data from a communication module of anearby vehicle via vehicle-to-vehicle communication and/or from acommunication module of an infrastructure unit viavehicle-to-infrastructure communication. The body control module 230controls one or more subsystems throughout the vehicle 100, such aspower windows, power locks, an immobilizer system, power mirrors, etc.For example, the body control module 230 includes circuits that driveone or more of relays (e.g., to control wiper fluid, etc.), brusheddirect current (DC) motors (e.g., to control power seats, power locks,power windows, wipers, etc.), stepper motors, LEDs, etc. For example,the body control module 230 is communicatively coupled to a windowcontroller 236 to electronically control operation (e.g., opening,closing) of one or more windows of the vehicle 100. Additionally, theHVAC module 232 is communicatively coupled to the HVAC unit 130 tocontrol and/or adjust settings (e.g., air conditioning settings, heatsettings, flow rate settings, defrost settings, etc.) of the HVAC unit130. In some examples, the ECUs 206 also include an anti-lock brakesystem (ABS) module that includes accelerometer(s) (e.g., a multi-axialaccelerometer) and/or wheel speed sensors that detect wheel rotation(e.g., upon impact from a collision).

The vehicle data bus 208 communicatively couples the communicationmodule 108, the GPS receiver 110, the infotainment head unit 124, thebattery control module 202, the sensors 204, and the ECUs 206. In someexamples, the vehicle data bus 208 includes one or more data buses. Thevehicle data bus 208 may be implemented in accordance with a controllerarea network (CAN) bus protocol as defined by International StandardsOrganization (ISO) 11898-1, a Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST)bus protocol, a CAN flexible data (CAN-FD) bus protocol (ISO 11898-7)and/a K-line bus protocol (ISO 9141 and ISO 14230-1), and/or anEthernet™ bus protocol IEEE 802.3 (2002 onwards), etc.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method 300 to set one or morecontrol modules in active state for a vehicle in a key-off state. Theflowchart of FIG. 3 is representative of machine readable instructionsthat are stored in memory (such as the memory 212 of FIG. 2) and includeone or more programs which, when executed by a processor (such as theprocessor 210 of FIG. 2), cause the example vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 toactivate one or more of the example ECUs 206 of FIG. 2 when the examplevehicle 100 is in a key-off state. While the example program isdescribed with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 3, manyother methods for activating control modules of a vehicle in a key-offstate may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution ofthe blocks may be rearranged, changed, eliminated, and/or combined toperform the method 300. Further, because the method 300 is disclosed inconnection with the components of FIGS. 1-2, some functions of thosecomponents will not be described in detail below.

Initially, at block 302, the battery sensor 121 detects a charge levelof the battery 104 of the vehicle 100, and the remote processor 218collects or determines the charge level of the battery 104 via thecommunication module 108 of the vehicle 100. At block 304, the GPSreceiver 110 (e.g., of the telematic control unit 222) determines alocation of the vehicle 100, and the remote processor 218 collects ordetermines the location of the vehicle 100 via the communication module108. For example, the communication module 108 sends a vehicle statussignal that includes the charge level and the location of the vehicle100 to the remote processor 218 prior to the vehicle 100 being in akey-off state.

At block 306, the remote processor 218 determines whether the vehicle100 is in a key-off state. For example, the remote processor 218determines that the vehicle 100 is in the key-off state responsive tothe vehicle 100 not receiving a signal from the communication module 108of the vehicle 100 for a predetermined amount of time. In otherexamples, the communication module 108 sends a key-off signal to theremote processor 218 immediately prior to the vehicle transitioning tothe key-off state. Upon the remote processor 218 determining that thevehicle is not in the key-off state (e.g., an on-state, an accessorystate), the method 300 returns to block 302 so that the vehicle 100receives an updated charge level of the battery 104 an updated locationof the vehicle 100. Blocks 302, 304, 306 are repeated until the remoteprocessor 218 determines that the vehicle is in the key-off state. Uponthe remote processor 218 determining that the vehicle is in the key-offstate, the method 300 proceeds to block 308. At block 308, the processor210 of the vehicle 100 causes one or more of the ECUs 206 (e.g., controlmodules) to transition from an active mode to a sleep mode to conservethe charge level of the battery 104 while the vehicle 100 is in thekey-off state.

At block 310, the remote processor 218 detects an activation event anddetermines whether to set a corresponding one or more of the ECUs 206 inan active mode. For example, if the remote processor 218 determines anevent for which the vehicle 100 is parked is ending, the remoteprocessor 218 determines whether to activate the telematic control unit422 to determine a route from the location at which the vehicle 100 isparked. If the remote processor 218 determines that damage has beencaused the vehicle 100 while the vehicle 100 is parked, the remoteprocessor 218 determines whether to activate one or more of the ECUs 206(e.g., the communication module 122, the inertial measurement unit 224,the central timing module 226) to collect data related to the damagecaused to the vehicle 100. Further, if the remote processor 218determines that the vehicle 100 is parked at location associated with ashort parking duration, the remote processor 218 determines whether toactivate one or more of the ECUs 206 (e.g., the communication module122, the body control module 230, the HVAC module 232) for a driver ofthe vehicle 100.

At block 312, the remote processor 218 determines whether the vehicle100 is in the on-state. For example, the remote processor 218 determinesthat the vehicle 100 is in the on-state upon receiving a signal from thecommunication module 112 of the vehicle 100 indicating that the vehicle100 is in the on-state. Response to the vehicle 100 remaining in thekey-off state and not being in the on-state, the method 300 returns toblock 308. Blocks 308, 310, 312 are repeated until the remote processor218 determines that the vehicle 100 is in the on-state. Otherwise,response to the remote processor 218 determining that the vehicle 100 isin the key-off state, the method 300 ends.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method 400 to implement block 310 ofFIG. 3 to determine driving directions from an event. The flowchart ofFIG. 4 is representative of machine readable instructions that arestored in memory (such as the memory 212 of FIG. 2) and include one ormore programs which, when executed by a processor (such as the processor210 of FIG. 2), cause the example vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 to activate oneor more of the example ECUs 206 of FIG. 2 when the example vehicle 100is in a key-off state to determine driving directions from an event.While the example program is described with reference to the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 4, many other methods for determining drivingdirection from an event may alternatively be used. For example, theorder of execution of the blocks may be rearranged, changed, eliminated,and/or combined to perform the method 400. Further, because the method400 is disclosed in connection with the components of FIGS. 1-2, somefunctions of those components will not be described in detail below.

Initially, at block 402, the remote processor 218 determines whether thelocation of the vehicle 100 is associated with an event (e.g., asporting event, work, a movie, etc.). In some examples, the remoteprocessor 218 accesses a personal calendar of the driver (e.g., viacommunication with the vehicle 100 and/or a mobile device of the driver)to identify whether the location is associated with an event. Inresponse to determining that the location of the vehicle 100 is notassociated with an event, the method 400 ends. In response todetermining that the location of the vehicle 100 is associated with anevent, the method 400 proceeds to block 404 at which the remoteprocessor 218 identifies the event. For example, if the remote processor218 identifies that the vehicle 100 is parked in a parking lotassociated with a sporting event (e.g., a baseball game), the remoteprocessor 218 identifies that the event is the sporting event. If theremote processor 218 identifies that the vehicle 100 is parked atlocation near an office at which the driver works (e.g., based uponinformation provided by the driver, based upon analysis of drivinghistory of the driver and/or the vehicle 100, etc.), the remoteprocessor 218 identifies that the event is a work shift.

At block 406, the remote processor 218 prioritizes activation of theECUs 206 (e.g., control modules) of the vehicle 100. For example, theremote processor 218 determines which of the ECUs 206 are to beactivated, and in which order, while the vehicle 100 remains in thekey-off state to prevent activation of one or more of the ECUs 206 fromcausing the battery 104 to become discharged. The remote processor 218prioritizes activation of the ECUs 206 based upon the location of thevehicle 100. For example, when the vehicle 100 is parked at a locationassociated with a sporting event or the driver's place of employment,the remote processor 218 prioritizes the gateway module 220, the batterycontrol module 202, and/or the telematic control unit 222.

At block 408, the remote processor 218 determines an end time of theevent identified at block 404 based on the location of the vehicle 100.For example, the remote processor 218 may communicate with a publicnetwork to determine when the event (e.g., a showing at a movie theatre)is scheduled to end to determine the end time of the event (e.g., themovie is scheduled to end at 9:25 PM). In other examples, the remoteprocessor 218 may communicate with a public network to track the event(e.g., a sporting event) in real-time to determine the end time of theevent (e.g., the public network identifies that the game has ended at8:39 PM). Additionally or alternatively, the remote processor 218 mayevaluate previous occurrences of the event (e.g., a work shift) topredict an end time of the event (e.g., the driver typically leaves theoffice at 5:45 PM on Thursdays). For example, based upon previousparking data provided by the vehicle 100 and/or other vehicles, theremote processor 218 utilizes cloud-based learning to determine atypical parking duration or end time for a geo-fenced area that includesthe location at which the vehicle 100 is parked for the event. Further,in some examples, the remote processor 218 identifies the end time ofthe event based on the personal calendar of the driver.

Further, the remote processor 218 determines when to activate one ormore of the ECUs 206 of the vehicle 100 based on the end time of theevent. In some examples, the remote processor 218 determines to activateone or more of the ECUs 206 of the vehicle 100 at the end time of theevent. For example, if the vehicle 100 is parked immediately outside ofan office of the driver, the remote processor 218 may activate one ormore of the ECUs 206 at the predicted end time of the work shift of thedriver. In other examples, the remote processor 218 determines toactivate one or more of the ECUs 206 of the vehicle 100 at apredetermined amount of time after the end time of the event. Forexample, if the remote processor 218 identifies that it typically takessomeone 20 minutes to reach a vehicle at the parking location of thevehicle 100 after the end of the sporting event, the remote processor218 may activate one or more of the ECUs 206 20 minutes after the endtime of the sporting event.

At block 410, the remote processor 218 determines whether it is time toactivate the telematic control unit 222 to determine a travel route fromthe location of the vehicle 100. In response to determining that it isnot time to activate the telematic control unit 222, the method 400returns to block 410. In response to determining that it is time toactivate the telematic control unit 222, the method 400 continues toblock 412.

At block 412, the remote processor 218 determines a current charge levelof the battery 104 of the vehicle 100. When the battery control module202 is set to sleep mode at block 308 of the method 300 of FIG. 3, theremote processor 218 is unable to collect the current charge level ofthe battery 104 via the battery sensor 121. To determine the currentcharge level, the remote processor 218 calculates the current chargelevel of the battery 104 based upon the charge level of the battery 104prior to the vehicle 100 being in the key-off state (e.g., receivedvehicle status signal sent from the communication module 108 of thevehicle 100 prior to block 306 of the method 300 of FIG. 3) and a timeduration of the vehicle 100 being in the key-off state. For example, thecharge level of the battery 104 decreases over time as the vehicle 100is in the key-off state. Thus, the longer the vehicle 100 is in thekey-off state, the more charge the remote processor 218 reduces from thelast measured charge level to determine the current charge level of thebattery 104. In some examples, the remote processor 218 identifies adischarge rate at which the charge level of the battery 104 reducesbased on a make, a model, a body type, an options package, and/or anyother characteristic of the vehicle 100. Further, in some examples, theremote processor 218 determines the current charge level of the battery104 based upon whether and to what extent the battery 104 battery hasbeen recharged via solar panel 132, the EV receptacle 134, and/or anyother charging source. For example, the solar panel 132 may reduceand/or negate the discharge rate of the battery 104 over time.

At block 414, the remote processor 218 determines whether the currentcharge level of the battery 104 is greater than a predetermined chargethreshold. For example, the predetermined charge threshold correspondsto a minimum charge level that enables the telematic control unit 222 tobe activated for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., a minimumactivation duration) without causing the battery 104 of the vehicle 100to become discharged. In response to the remote processor 218determining that the current charge level of the battery 104 is notgreater than the predetermined charge threshold, the method 400 ends. Insome examples, the battery control module 202 (e.g., via thecommunication module 108) and/or the remote processor 218 notifies thedriver via a mobile device that the battery 104 has a low charge level.Additionally or alternatively, the battery control module 202 may causethe vehicle 100 to start autonomously for a period of time when thevehicle 100 is outdoors (e.g., determined via the GPS receiver 110) toenable the battery 104 to recharge over time. In such examples, thebattery control module 202 may not cause the vehicle 100 to startautonomously when the vehicle is indoors to avoid carbon monoxidebuildup within the indoor facilities. Otherwise, in response to theremote processor 218 determining that the current charge level of thebattery 104 is greater than the predetermined charge threshold, themethod 400 proceeds to block 416. At block 416, the remote processor 218determines, based upon the current charge level, an activation durationduring which the telematic control level without causing the battery 104to become discharged. That is, the remote processor 218 determines theactivation duration during which the telematic control level isactivated to prevent the battery 104 of the vehicle 100 from beingdischarged.

At block 418, the remote processor 218 sends an activation signal to thecommunication module 108 of the vehicle 100 and the communication module108 receives the activation signal to activate the telematic controlunit 222. For example, the remote processor 218 sends the activationsignal based upon the end time (e.g., at a predetermined time periodafter the end time), the communication module 108 receives theactivation signal, the gateway module 220 causes the battery controlmodule 202 to activate upon the communication module 108 receiving theactivation signal, and the battery control module 202 subsequentlyactivates the telematic control unit 222. That is, the remote processor218 activates the telematic control unit 222 in response to determiningthat the current charge level of the battery 104 is greater than thepredetermined charge level.

At block 420, the telematic control unit 222 determines a targetdestination for the vehicle 100. In some examples, the telematic controlunit 222 predicts and/or otherwise determines the target destination forthe vehicle 100 based upon driving history of the vehicle 100 and/or thedriver. For example, if the location of the vehicle 100 is associatedwith a work site of the driver, the telematic control unit 222determines that the target destination of the vehicle 100 is a home ofthe driver. In some examples, the telematic control unit 222 determinesthe target destination based upon the personal calendar of the driver.At block 422, the telematic control unit 222 collects traffic data, mapdata, and/or weather condition data. For example, the telematic controlunit 222 collects map data, traffic data, and/or weather condition datafrom an external server via the communication module 108.

At block 424, the telematic control unit 222 determines a route from thelocation at which the vehicle 100 is parked to the target destination.In some examples, the telematic control unit 222 determines a quickestdriving route from the location of the vehicle 100 to the targetdestination. For example, the telematic control unit 222 determines thequickest driving route from the location of the vehicle 100 to thetarget destination based upon map data, traffic data, driver historydata, weather condition data, etc. In some examples, the telematiccontrol unit 222 presents, via the display 126, the route from thelocation of the vehicle 100 upon determining the route. In otherexamples, the telematic control unit 222 presents, via the display 126,the route from the location of the vehicle 100 upon the driver enteringthe vehicle 100. Additionally or alternatively, the battery controlmodule 202 causes one of the ECUs 206 to set a driving mode (e.g., asnow mode, a sport mode, etc.) by adjusting powetrain and/or suspensionsettings and/or presents a corresponding suggested tire pressure basedon the target destination, the route, the time of day, weatherconditions, etc.

At block 426, the remote processor 218 determines whether the activationduration has completed. In response to determining that the activationduration has completed while the vehicle 100 remains in the key-offstate, the method 400 ends such that the telematic control unit 222and/or one or more of the ECUs 206 is to return to the sleep mode atblock 308 of the method 300 of FIG. 3. Further, in some examples, thebattery control module 202 causes the method 400 to end and the ECUs 206to return to sleep mode upon detecting that the battery 104 will becomedischarged shortly if the ECUs remain in the activated state.

Otherwise, at block 428, the method 400 proceeds to block 428 at whichthe communication module 112 determines whether a user (e.g., thedriver) is near the vehicle 100. For example, the communication module112 remains in an active mode while the vehicle 100 is in the key-offstate to enable the communication module 112 to detect a presence of theuser. In response to the communication module 112 not detecting theuser, the method 400 returns to block 422. Otherwise, in response to thecommunication module 112 detecting the user, the method 400 proceeds toblock 430. At block 430, the battery control module 202 (e.g., viameasurements of the battery sensor 121) determines whether the chargelevel of the battery 104 is greater than another predetermined chargethreshold (e.g., a second charge threshold). For example, thepredetermined charge threshold corresponds to a charge level of thebattery 104 that is able to activate the body control module 230 of thevehicle 100 without causing the battery 104 to become discharged. Inresponse to the battery control module 202 determining that the chargelevel is not greater than the predetermined charge threshold, the method400 ends. Otherwise, in response to the battery control module 202determining that the charge level is greater than the predeterminedcharge threshold, the method 400 proceeds to block 432 at which the bodycontrol module 230 activates lighting of the vehicle 100 as the userapproaches the vehicle 100. For example, the battery control module 202activates the body control module 230 (e.g., after the communicationmodule 108 receives the activation signal) to enable the body controlmodule 230 to activate the lighting. Upon completing block 432, themethod 400 ends.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method 500 to implement block 310 ofFIG. 3 to detect and collect data related to damage caused to a vehicle.The flowchart of FIG. 5 is representative of machine readableinstructions that are stored in memory (such as the memory 212 of FIG.2) and include one or more programs which, when executed by a processor(such as the processor 210 of FIG. 2), cause the example vehicle 100 ofFIG. 1 to activate one or more of the example ECUs 206 of FIG. 2 todetect and collect data related to damage caused to the example vehicle100. While the example program is described with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 5, many other methods for detecting andcollecting data related to damage caused to a vehicle may alternativelybe used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may berearranged, changed, eliminated, and/or combined to perform the method500. Further, because the method 500 is disclosed in connection with thecomponents of FIGS. 1-2, some functions of those components will not bedescribed in detail below.

Initially, at block 502, the remote processor 218 identifiescharacteristic(s) of the location at which the vehicle 100 is parked.The remote processor 218 determines a likelihood that the vehicle 100 isto be damaged (e.g., collided into, vandalized, etc.) while parked atthe location based on the characteristic(s) of the location. Forexample, if the vehicle 100 is parallel parked next to a busyintersection, the remote processor 218 potentially may determine thatthe vehicle 100 is more likely to be damaged. If the vehicle 100 isparked in a private or guarded garage, the remote processor 218potentially may determine that the vehicle 100 is less likely to bedamaged. Additionally or alternatively, the remote processor 218identifies an expected parking duration based upon the location of thevehicle 100. For example, if the vehicle 100 is located at an airportparking lot, the remote processor 218 determines that the vehicle 100will remain at the location for an extended period of time. In someexamples, the remote processor 218 utilizes cloud-based learning todetermine the expected parking duration for a geo-fenced area thatincludes the location of the vehicle 100 based upon previous parkingdata provided by the vehicle 100 and/or other vehicles.

At block 504, the remote processor 218 determines whether to monitor thevehicle 100 for damage caused to the vehicle 100 while the vehicle 100is parked at the location. The remote processor 218 determines whetherto monitor the vehicle 100 based upon the characteristic(s) of thelocation and/or the expected parking duration for the vehicle 100. Forexample, the remote processor 218 is more likely to monitor the vehicle100 for damage if the characteristic(s) of the location are associatedwith potential damage to the vehicle 100. The remote processor 218 isless likely to monitor the vehicle 100 if the remote processor 218determines that the vehicle 100 likely is to be parked at the locationfor an extended period of time. In response to the remote processor 218determining not to monitor the vehicle 100 for damage, the method 500ends. Otherwise, in response to the remote processor 218 determining tomonitor the vehicle 100 for damage, the method 500 proceeds to block506.

At block 506, the remote processor 218 determines whether a currentcharge level of the battery 104 is greater than a predetermined chargethreshold. For example, the remote processor 218 determines the currentcharge level of the battery 104 and compares it to the predeterminedcharge threshold. To determine the current charge level, the remoteprocessor 218 calculates the current charge level of the battery 104based upon the charge level of the battery 104 prior to the vehicle 100being in the key-off state and a time duration of the vehicle 100 beingin the key-off state. For example, the charge level of the battery 104decreases over time as the vehicle 100 is in the key-off state. Theremote processor 218 may identify a discharge rate at which the chargelevel of the battery 104 reduces based on a make, a model, a body type,an options package, and/or any other characteristic of the vehicle 100.Further, in some examples, the remote processor 218 determines thecurrent charge level of the battery 104 based upon whether and to whatextent the battery 104 battery has been recharged via solar panel 132,the EV receptacle 134, and/or any other charging source. Further, thepredetermined charge threshold corresponds to a minimum charge levelthat enables the one or more of the sensors 204 to be activated for apredetermined amount of time (e.g., a minimum activation duration) todetect damage caused to the vehicle 100 without causing the battery 104of the vehicle 100 to become discharged.

In response to the remote processor 218 determining that the currentcharge level of the battery 104 is not greater than the predeterminedcharge threshold, the method 500 ends. In some examples, the batterycontrol module 202 (e.g., via the communication module 108) and/or theremote processor 218 notifies the driver via a mobile device that thebattery 104 has a low charge level. Additionally or alternatively, thebattery control module 202 may cause the vehicle 100 to startautonomously for a period of time when the vehicle 100 is outdoors(e.g., determined via the GPS receiver 110) to enable the battery 104 torecharge over time. In such examples, the battery control module 202 maynot cause the vehicle 100 to start autonomously when the vehicle isindoors to avoid carbon monoxide buildup within the indoor facilities.Otherwise, in response to the remote processor 218 determining that thecurrent charge level of the battery 104 is greater than thepredetermined charge threshold, the method 500 proceeds to block 508.

At block 508, the remote processor 218 prioritizes activation of one ormore of the sensors 204 (e.g., one or more of the proximity sensors 114of the body control module 230, one or more of the cameras 116 of thecamera module 228, the tilt sensor 118 and/or the accelerometer 120 ofthe inertial measurement unit 224, one or more wheel speed sensors of anABS module). At block 510, one of the sensors 204 is activated tocollect damage detection data. The damage detection data is collected byone or more of the sensors 204 to identify if and when the vehicle 100has been damaged while in the key-off state. For example, to activateone of the sensors 204, the remote processor 218 sends an activationsignal to the communication module 108, the gateway module 220 causesthe battery control module 202 to activate upon the communication module108 receiving the activation signal, and the battery control module 202subsequently activates one of the ECUs 206 (e.g., the inertialmeasurement unit 224) for a corresponding one of the sensors 204 (thetilt sensor 118). In some such examples, the battery control module 202may return to sleep mode upon activating one or more of the ECUs 206(e.g., control modules). At block 512, the remote processor 218 and/orthe battery control module 202 determines, based upon the current chargelevel, a monitoring duration during which the one of the sensors 204 isto monitor for damage detection data. The monitoring duration isdetermined to prevent the battery 104 of the vehicle 100 from beingdischarged due to collection of the damage detection data.

At block 514, the remote processor 218 determines whether to activateanother one of the sensors 204 to monitor for damage detection datawhile the vehicle 100 is in the key-off state. For example, the remoteprocessor 218 determines whether to activate another one of the sensors204 based upon the current charge level of the battery 104. In responseto the remote processor 218 determining to activate another one of thesensors 204, the method 500 returns to block 510. Otherwise, in responseto the remote processor 218 determining not to activate another one ofthe sensors 204, the method 500 proceeds to block 516 at which theremote processor 218 determines whether the monitoring duration has beenreached. In response to the remote processor 218 determining that themonitoring duration has been reached, the method 500 ends. Otherwise, inresponse to the remote processor 218 determining that the monitoringduration has not been reached, the method proceeds to block 518.

At block 518, the remote processor 218 detects whether damage has beencaused to the vehicle 100 based upon the damage detection data collectedby one or more of the sensors 204 activated at block 508. For example,the one or more of the sensors 204 collect the damage detection data andsend the damage detection data to the remote processor 218 via thecommunication module 108. The remote processor 218 receives the damagedetection data from the communication module 108 and analyzes the damagedetection data to detect whether damage has been caused to the vehicle100 while in the key-off state. For example, the remote processor 218determines that the vehicle 100 has been damaged if the damage detectiondata collected by one or more of the proximity sensors 114 and/or one ormore of the cameras 116 indicates that an object (e.g., another vehicle)and/or a person has contacted the vehicle 100. Additionally oralternatively, the remote processor 218 determines that the vehicle 100has been damaged if the damage detection data collected by the tiltsensor 118 indicates that the vehicle 100 has been tilted or liftedand/or if the damage detection data collected by the tilt sensor 118indicates that the vehicle 100 has shifted suddenly (e.g., due to acollision). In response to the remote processor 218 not detecting damageto the vehicle 100, the method 500 returns to block 518. Further, insome examples, the method 500 returns to block 516 to determine whetherthe monitoring duration has been reached upon the remote processor 218not detecting damage to the vehicle 100. Otherwise, in response to theremote processor 218 detecting that damage has been caused to thevehicle 100, the method 500 proceeds to block 520.

At block 520, the remote processor 218 determines the current chargelevel of the battery 104. In some examples, the remote processor 218determines the current charge level of the battery 104 based upon thecharge level of the battery 104 prior to the vehicle 100 being in thekey-off state, the time duration of the vehicle 100 being in the key-offstate, and/or to what extent the battery 104 battery has been rechargedvia a charging source while in the key-off state. In other examples, theremote processor 218 activates the battery control module 202 (e.g., viathe gateway module 220), the battery sensor 121 detects the charge levelof the battery 104, and the remote processor 218 receives the chargelevel of the battery 104 via the communication module 108.

At block 522, the remote processor 218 determines a data collectionduration which damage identification data is collected to identify atype, a vehicle location, a severity, and/or a source (e.g., a person, avehicle, etc.) of the damage caused to the vehicle 100. For example, theremote processor 218 determines the data collection duration based uponthe current charge level of the battery 104 to prevent the battery 104of the vehicle 100 from draining or becoming discharged as the damageidentification data is collected. At block 524, the remote processor 218prioritizes activation of the sensors 204 and/or the ECUs 206 thatenables collection of the damage identification data. For example, theremote processor 218 prioritizes activation of the proximity sensors114, the cameras 116, the communication module 122, the central timingmodule 226, the camera module 228, the body control module 230, etc. Insome examples, the remote processor 218 prioritizes the sensors 204and/or the ECUs 206 from those that consume the least amount of chargeto those that consume the most amount of charge to collect the damageidentification data.

At block 526, the remote processor 218 activates one of the sensors 204and/or one of the ECUs 206 based on the how the remote processor 218prioritized the sensors 204 and/or the ECUs 206 at block 524. Forexample, the remote processor 218 sends an activation signal to thecommunication module 108 to activate one or more of the cameras 116 tocollect the damage identification data responsive to the remoteprocessor 218 detecting at block 518 that damage has been caused to thevehicle 100 and determining that the current charge level is greaterthan a predetermined charge level. In some such examples, the remoteprocessor 218 sends the activation signal to the communication module108, the communication module 108 receives the activation signal, thegateway module 220 causes the battery control module 202 to activateupon the communication module 108 receiving the activation signal, andthe battery control module 202 subsequently activates the camera module228 to activate one or more of the cameras 116.

At block 528, the one or more of the sensors 204 and/or the one or moreof the ECUs 206 activated at block 526 collect the damage identificationdata. In some examples, the damage identification data is collected toidentify a type, a vehicle location, a severity, and/or a source (e.g.,a person, a vehicle, etc.) of the damage caused to the vehicle 100. Forexample, the cameras 116 collect the damage identification data (e.g.,image(s) and/or video) to facilitate identification of the source of thedamage caused to the vehicle 100. Thus, the one or more sensors 204activated at block 510 may collect the damage detection data when thecamera module 228 is in sleep mode to conserve the charge level of thebattery 104, and the one or more cameras 116 collect the damageidentification data when the camera module 228 is in an active mode.

At block 530, the remote processor 218 determines whether the datacollection duration has been reached. In response to the remoteprocessor 218 determining that the data collection duration has beenreached, the method 500 proceeds to block 534. Otherwise, in response tothe remote processor 218 determining that the data collection durationhas not been reached, the method 500 proceeds to block 532 at which theremote processor 218 determines whether to activate another one of thesensors 204 and/or the ECUs 206 to collect additional damageidentification data. In response to the remote processor 218 determiningnot to activate another one of the sensors 204 and/or the ECUs 206, themethod proceeds to block 534. Otherwise, in response to the remoteprocessor 218 determining to activate another one of the sensors 204and/or the ECUs 206, the method 500 returns to block 526. In someexamples, the activates one or more of the sensors 204 (e.g., theproximity sensors 114) that were activated to collect damage detectiondata to also collect damage identification data. Further, in someexamples, the remote processor 218 activates (e.g., via the activationsignal) the clock 234 of the central timing module 226 to detect a timeat which the damage is caused to the vehicle 100. Additionally oralternatively, the remote processor 218 activates (e.g., via theactivation signal) the communication module 122 (e.g., the dedicatedshort range communication module) to communicate with nearby vehicle(s)(e.g., via vehicle-to-vehicle communication) and/or nearbyinfrastructure (e.g., via vehicle-to-infrastructure communication) tocollect damage identification data from the nearby vehicle(s) and/or thenearby infrastructure. For example, the communication module 122 obtainsdamage identification data via vehicle-to-vehicle communication that iscollected from a camera of a vehicle that is located near the vehicle100 when the damage occurs.

At block 534, the vehicle 100 sends and/or stores the vehicleidentification data to be accessed at a later time to determine a type,a vehicle location, a severity, and/or a source (e.g., a person, avehicle, etc.) of the damage caused to the vehicle 100. For example, thevehicle 100 stores the vehicle identification data in the database 214of the battery control module 202 of the vehicle 100 and/or sends thevehicle identification data to the remote processor 218 via thecommunication module 108. Further, at block 536 the communication module112 of the vehicle 100 notifies (e.g., via a text message) a user (e.g.,the driver) of the vehicle 100 upon detection of damage caused to thevehicle 100.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example method 600 to implement block 310 ofFIG. 3 to activate one or more control modules of a vehicle based upon aparking location and an expected parking duration. The flowchart of FIG.6 is representative of machine readable instructions that are stored inmemory (such as the memory 212 of FIG. 2) and include one or moreprograms which, when executed by a processor (such as the processor 210of FIG. 2), cause the example vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 to activate one ormore of the example ECUs 206 of FIG. 2 based upon a parking location andan expected parking duration. While the example program is describedwith reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 6, many othermethods for activating control modules based upon a parking location andan expected parking duration may alternatively be used. For example, theorder of execution of the blocks may be rearranged, changed, eliminated,and/or combined to perform the method 600. Further, because the method600 is disclosed in connection with the components of FIGS. 1-2, somefunctions of those components will not be described in detail below.

Initially, at block 602, the remote processor 218 determines a type oflocation at which the vehicle 100 is in the key-off state. For example,the remote processor 218 may identify that the vehicle 100 is at agas-station, a post office, a parallel parking sport along a side of astreet, etc. At block 604, the remote processor determines an expectedparking duration based on the location type at which the vehicle 100 isparked. That is, the remote processor 218 identifies the parkingduration for the vehicle 100 at the location based on historical data.In some examples, the remote processor 218 utilizes cloud-based learningto determine the parking duration for a geo-fenced area that includesthe location of the vehicle 100 based upon previous parking dataprovided by the vehicle 100 and/or other vehicles. For example, if theremote processor 218 determines that the vehicle is parked at a fuelingstation, the remote processor 218 identifies the parking durationassociated with fueling station. If the remote processor 218 determinesthat the vehicle is parked at a store (e.g., a post office), the remoteprocessor 218 identifies the parking duration associated with store. Ifthe remote processor 218 determines that the vehicle is parallel parkedalong a street, the remote processor 218 identifies the parking durationassociated with vehicles parked on that street.

At block 606, the remote processor 218 determines a current charge levelof the battery 104 of the vehicle 100. For example, to determine thecurrent charge level of the vehicle while the battery control module 202is in sleep mode, the remote processor 218 calculates the current chargelevel of the battery 104 based upon the charge level of the battery 104prior to the vehicle 100 being in the key-off state and a time durationof the vehicle 100 being in the key-off state. In some examples, theremote processor 218 identifies a discharge rate at which the chargelevel of the battery 104 reduces based on a make, a model, a body type,an options package, and/or any other characteristic of the vehicle 100.Further, in some examples, the remote processor 218 determines thecurrent charge level of the battery 104 based upon whether and to whatextent the battery 104 battery has been recharged via solar panel 132,the EV receptacle 134, and/or any other charging source. For example,the solar panel 132 may reduce and/or negate the discharge rate of thebattery 104 over time.

At block 608, the remote processor 218 determines whether the currentcharge level of the battery 104 is greater than a predetermined chargethreshold. For example, the predetermined charge threshold correspondsto a minimum charge level that enables one or more of the ECUs 206(e.g., control modules) to be activated for a predetermined amount oftime (e.g., a minimum activation duration) without causing the battery104 of the vehicle 100 to become drained or discharged. In response tothe remote processor 218 determining that the current charge level ofthe battery 104 is not greater than the predetermined charge threshold,the method 600 ends. In some examples, the battery control module 202(e.g., via the communication module 108) and/or the remote processor 218notifies the driver via a mobile device that the battery 104 has a lowcharge level. Additionally or alternatively, the battery control module202 may cause the vehicle 100 to start autonomously for a period of timewhen the vehicle 100 is outdoors (e.g., determined via the GPS receiver110) to enable the battery 104 to recharge over time. In such examples,the battery control module 202 may not cause the vehicle 100 to startautonomously when the vehicle is indoors to avoid carbon monoxidebuildup within the indoor facilities. Otherwise, in response to theremote processor 218 determining that the current charge level of thebattery 104 is greater than the predetermined charge threshold, themethod 600 proceeds to block 610.

At block 610, the remote processor 218 identifies one or more of theECUs 206 that facilitate user interaction. For example, the remoteprocessor 218 identifies the infotainment head unit 124 that presentsmedia and/or other information to a user of the vehicle 100, thetelematic control unit 222 that enables the user to identify itslocation, the central timing module 226 that enables the user toidentify the time, the camera module 228 that enables one or more of thecameras 116 to collect image(s) and/or video presented to the user, thecommunication module 122 that facilitates communication between thevehicle 100 and a mobile device of the user, the body control module 230that enables the user to control windows, seat locations, and/or othersettings of the vehicle 100, the HVAC module 232 that enables the userto control settings of the HVAC unit 130, etc.

At block 612, the remote processor 218 prioritizes activation of theECUs 206 identified at block 610. For example, the remote processor 218determines which of the ECUs 206 are to be activated, and in whichorder, while the vehicle 100 remains in the key-off state to preventactivation of one or more of the ECUs 206 from causing the battery 104to become discharged. The remote processor 218 prioritizes the ECUs 206based upon the charge level of the battery 104, the location of thevehicle 100, and/or the corresponding parking duration. For example, ifthe vehicle 100 is parked at a fueling station, the remote processor 218prioritizes the infotainment head unit 124 to enable media (e.g., music)to continue to be presented to the user while the vehicle 100 is beingrefilled at the fueling station. If the vehicle 100 is parked at a postoffice, the remote processor 218 may prioritizes the HVAC module 232 toenable the HVAC unit 130 to maintain a comfortable cabin environment forthe user to return to. If the vehicle 100 is parallel parked along theside of a street, the remote processor 218 may prioritize the cameramodule 228 and the communication module 122 to enable one or more of thecameras 116 to obtain image(s) and/or video of the vehicle 100 and thecommunication module 122 to send the image(s) and/or video to a mobiledevice of the user to enable the user to monitor the vehicle 100. Inother examples in which the vehicle 100 is parallel parked along theside of a street, the remote processor 218 may prioritize the centraltiming module 226 and the communication module 122 to facilitate warningthe user, via a mobile device, when a parking meter is to be paid.

At block 614, the remote processor 218 sends an activation signal to thecommunication module 108 of the vehicle 100 to activate one of the ECUs206 of the vehicle 100. That is, the remote processor 218 sends theactivation signal to the vehicle 100 responsive to determining that thecharge level of the battery 104 is greater than a predeterminedthreshold associated with the location at which the vehicle 100 isparked. Additionally or alternatively, the remote processor 218 sendsthe activation signal to the vehicle 100 responsive to determining thatthe charge level of the battery 104 is greater than a predeterminedthreshold associated with the parking duration identified at block 604.

For example, if the vehicle 100 is parked at a fueling station, theremote processor 218 sends the activation signal to the communicationmodule 108 to activate the infotainment head unit 124 such that thedisplay 126 and/or the speakers 128 present media to the user of thevehicle 100 during refueling of the vehicle 100. For example, after thevehicle 10 has transitioned from an on-state to the key-off state, theremote processor 218 sends the activation signal, the communicationmodule 108 receives the activation signal, the gateway module 220 causesthe battery control module 202 to activate upon the communication module108 receiving the activation signal, and the battery control module 202subsequently activates the infotainment head unit 124.

In other examples, if the vehicle 100 is parked at a post office, theremote processor 218 sends the activation signal to activate the HVACmodule 232 to enable the HVAC unit 130 to maintain a comfortable cabinenvironment of the vehicle 100. If the vehicle 100 is parallel parkedalong the side of a street, the remote processor 218 sends theactivation signal to activate the camera module 228 and thecommunication module 122 (e.g., a dedicated short range communicationmodule) to enable the user to monitor the vehicle 100 via image(s)and/or video obtained by one or more of the cameras 116. In otherexamples in which the vehicle 100 is parallel parked along the side of astreet, the remote processor 218 sends the activation signal to activatethe central timing module 226 and the communication module 122 tofacilitate warning the user that a parking meter is about to expire.

At block 616, the remote processor 218 and/or the battery control module202 determines an activation duration for the activated one of the ECUs206 based upon the current charge level and/or which of the ECUs 206 areactivated. For example, the activation duration is determined to preventthe battery 104 of the vehicle 100 from being discharged due toactivation of the infotainment head unit 124 and/or any other of theECUs while the vehicle 100 remains in the key-off state.

At block 618, the remote processor 218 determines whether the activationduration has been reached. In response to the remote processor 218determining that the activation duration has been reached, the activatedone(s) of the ECUs 206 return to a sleep mode and the method 600 ends.Otherwise, in response to the remote processor 218 determining that theactivation duration has not been reached, the method 600 proceeds toblock 620 at which the remote processor 218 determines whether to setanother one of the ECUs 206 in an active mode. In response to the remoteprocessor 218 determining to set another one of the ECUs 206 in anactive mode, the method 600 returns to block 614. For example, if thevehicle 100 is at a fueling station and the infotainment head unit 124is activated, the remote processor 218 also may activate the HVAC module232 if the charge level of the battery 104 is great enough. Otherwise,in response to the remote processor 218 determining not to set anotherone of the ECUs 206 in an active mode, the method 600 proceeds to block622 at which the remote processor 218 determines whether the activationduration has been reached. In response to the remote processor 218determining that the activation duration has been reached, the activatedone(s) of the ECUs 206 return to a sleep mode and the method 600 ends.Otherwise, in response to the remote processor 218 determining that theactivation duration has not been reached, the method 600 returns toblock 622.

In this application, the use of the disjunctive is intended to includethe conjunctive. The use of definite or indefinite articles is notintended to indicate cardinality. In particular, a reference to “the”object or “a” and “an” object is intended to denote also one of apossible plurality of such objects. Further, the conjunction “or” may beused to convey features that are simultaneously present instead ofmutually exclusive alternatives. In other words, the conjunction “or”should be understood to include “and/or”. The terms “includes,”“including,” and “include” are inclusive and have the same scope as“comprises,” “comprising,” and “comprise” respectively.

The above-described embodiments, and particularly any “preferred”embodiments, are possible examples of implementations and merely setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Manyvariations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without substantially departing from the spirit andprinciples of the techniques described herein. All modifications areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a vehicle at a location in akey-off state including: a battery; a communication module; and aninfotainment unit to activate and present media responsive to thecommunication module receiving an activation signal; a remote processorto: determine a charge level of the battery; identify a parking durationfor the location; and send the activation signal responsive to thecharge level being greater than a threshold associated with the parkingduration.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote processor sendsthe activation signal to activate the infotainment unit after thevehicle has transitioned from an on-state to the key-off state.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein at least one of a display and a speaker ofthe infotainment unit presents the media upon the infotainment unitbeing activated when the location of the vehicle is at a fuelingstation.
 4. The system of claim 1, further including an HVAC unit thatactivates responsive to the communication module receiving theactivation signal when the location of the vehicle is a post office. 5.The system of claim 1, further including a camera module that activatesresponsive to the communication module receiving the activation signalwhen the location of the vehicle is a parallel parking spot on a street.6. The system of claim 1, further including a dedicated short rangecommunication module for communication with a mobile device, thededicated short range communication module activates when the vehicle isin the key-off state responsive to the communication module receivingthe activation signal.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicleincludes a GPS receiver to determine the location.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the communication module is to send the location andthe charge level to the remote processor via the communication moduleprior to the vehicle being in the key-off state.
 9. The system of claim1, wherein the vehicle includes a battery sensor to detect the chargelevel of the battery.
 10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicleincludes a battery control module that activates the infotainment unitupon the communication module receiving the activation signal from theremote processor.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the remoteprocessor determines a current charge level of a battery of the vehiclebased upon the charge level prior to the vehicle being in the key-offstate and a time duration of the vehicle being in the key-off state. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the remote processor activates theinfotainment unit in response to determining that the current chargelevel is greater than a predetermined charge threshold.
 13. The systemof claim 12, wherein, to deter the battery from being discharged, theremote processor determines an activation duration during which theinfotainment unit is activated when the vehicle is in the key-off state.14. The system of claim 13, wherein the infotainment unit returns to asleep mode upon the activation duration ending and the vehicle remainingin the key-off state.
 15. A method for activating vehicle controlmodules, the method comprising: determining, via a battery sensor, acharge level of a battery of a vehicle at location in a key-off state;identifying, via a processor, a parking duration for the location;activating an infotainment unit responsive to the charge level beinggreater than a threshold associated with the parking duration; andpresenting media via the infotainment unit.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the infotainment unit presents the media via at least one adisplay and a speaker upon the infotainment unit being activated whenthe location of the vehicle is a fueling station.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, further including sending, via a communication module, thelocation and the charge level to a remote processor prior to the vehiclebeing in the key-off state.
 18. The method of claim 15, furtherincluding activating an HVAC unit responsive to determining the locationof the vehicle is a post office.
 19. The method of claim 15, furtherincluding activating a camera module responsive to determining thelocation of the vehicle is a parallel parking spot on a street.
 20. Atangible computer readable medium including instructions which, whenexecuted, cause a machine to: determine, via a battery sensor, a chargelevel of a battery of a vehicle at location in a key-off state;identify, via a processor, a parking duration for the location; activatean infotainment unit responsive to the charge level being greater than athreshold associated with the parking duration; and present media viathe infotainment unit.